Bookish serendipity and other people's opinions

The downside of reading reviews, a new steamy story for a good cause, and the movie that inspired the story.

Mar 25, 2022

First, before we get to the nitty-gritty of the newsletter, I have news! (Newsletter is not just a clever name.)

Yes, I’m on sabbatical, but when I was asked if I wanted to be part of a charity anthology to help Ukraine, I knew I wanted to take part.

So, for those of you who have been asking when I will write erotic romance again, the answer is now! :) I contributed a 10k word/3 chapter erotic romance (menage) short story to the Nightingale anthology (put together by author Skye Warren.) This anthology is jam-packed with stories from over 50 fantastic authors and 100% of the royalties will go to organizations that are sending aid to Ukraine. So, good cause and great stories, you can’t lose.

The anthology will be on sale April 5th but you can pre-order now!

And look at this gorgeous cover! All the heart eyes.

Okay, onto the letter…

The Art of Buying a Thing

Once upon a time, before the internet, I would walk into a store, search for what I wanted, and then buy a thing. Depending on the item, there may have been two or three choices to pick from. Or, I would walk into a store unsure of what I wanted, browse, and then choose a thing.

That was the extent of the decision-making. There wasn’t an endless list of options. There was no scrolling through review after review on Amazon or watching YouTube videos to see if that thing was the best or worst or somewhere in between. If I ended up not liking the thing, I could just return it.

It wasn’t a perfect system, but, man, was it easier. Decision fatigue is real. Not having everyone else’s opinion to consider made choosing things a lot more straightforward.

But now? Now I find myself scanning reviews for the simplest things—like paper towels. I mean, granted, there are crappy paper towels out there, but is it really a huge loss if I buy the wrong kind once and realize, oh, I don’t like this brand and will buy different ones next time? For big-ticket items, doing research makes sense, but for smaller things? I think it’s becoming more maddening than helpful.

Because for every product, someone is going to love it/want to marry it and someone is going to say it killed their dog and burnt their house down.

This goes for books, too.

Now, I’m not saying I’m against book reviews—quite the opposite, actually. I am eternally grateful to the people who take the time to review my books because that helps readers find the books. As an author, I’m very pro-review. (Please review my books! ;) )

But as a reader, I sometimes can get stuck if I read reviews first. Because, for most books, there will be a 4-ish star average. Most people will like it and there will be 5-star raves, and then there will be a handful of “this is the worst book I’ve ever read” reviews that have been voted to the top. Here’s an example from One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, a book that I finished this week:

For the record, I really enjoyed the book (and will be talking about it on next week’s RAD Reading podcast) but reading these reviews ahead of time is not helpful. And even worse, when I scrolled lower, another review had a spoiler in it. It made me glad that I hadn’t read the reviews first this time.

More and more, I’m finding that I miss some of the bookish serendipity that happened when I’d just pick up a book, only knowing what the back cover told me, and then read it before I knew the world’s opinion about it. I miss searching the bookstore or library shelves and just plucking an interesting book from the stacks.

When I read reviews first, I risk other people’s opinions coloring mine before I’ve even opened a page. You see things you can’t unsee. I’m now looking for that thing that one reviewer mentioned was a plot hole or whatever. It changes the experience. And I also risk seeing spoilers from inexperienced reviewers who don’t know how to warn about that.

Now, after I read a book, I love the experience of reading reviews to see other people’s thoughts on it. That feels like a mini-book club.

I also love getting a recommendation from a trusted source (podcaster, book blogger/instagrammer, book subscription, etc.). That doesn’t feel the same as reading a list of random reviews. If I know X podcaster gives great recs for X genre, then I’ll listen to what they have to say about a book. But even in that case, I often find myself scrolling the general reviews on the buy page before clicking the purchase button. It’s become a habit.

So, I’m making a few mini-resolutions in the spirit of bookish serendipity and decreasing decision fatigue:

If a book is already on my TBR, I do not need to check reviews before reading. I already went through that decision-making process when I put it on my TBR.
If I get a book recommendation from a source I trust, I’m going to get the book on the strength of that recommendation and not research more
I’m going to take some time to browse the library and my local bookstore and pick up books that interest me just based on cover and back cover summary and will not check reviews first.

I’ll report back on how the experiment goes!

*By the way, if you want to try this, but you read reviews to check trigger warnings, I recommend Storygraph if you want to see the content warnings without having to scroll reviews. They have a separate section on the left of each book page where you can view that info.

Do you have thoughts on reading reviews first? Do you feel decision fatigue when shopping these days?

Romantic Movie Marathon

Romantic Movie Marathon Review

Title: Reality Bites

Release date: Feb. 18, 1994

Where to Watch: Starz via Amazon Prime

Starring: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofolo

Official description (from Amazon): “Ben Stiller, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn star in this smart, insightful and hilarious comedy that looks at life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. This irreverent look at the harsh realities of life after college captures the misadventures of Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring TV production assistant, and her relationships with her sarcastic roommate, Vickie (Garofalo), friends Sammy (Zahn) and Troy (Hawke) and an ambitious video executive, Michael (Stiller). Now, in its 10th anniversary, this is truly a comedic and cultural touchstone that encapsulates an era like no other.”

My description: A group of college grads in the 90s try to manage adult life. Lelaina is making a documentary about her friends and dealing with her antagonistic relationship with her friend Troy and her budding relationship with a preppy video producer. Love triangle-ness ensues.

My Review

1 . Is it actually a romance? yes

2 . Romantic tropes: love triangle, bad boy musician, a little bit of enemies-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers

3 . Sweet or steamy? neither, slightly gritty/realistic in that 90s way

4 . Swoon-worthy love interest? there are two to choose from and some interesting generational things to take into consideration on the swoon-worthy factor (see thoughts below)

5 . Would I want to be friends with the main character? yes

6 . Does it show its age? yes, but in the best “snapshot in time” way

7 . Would I rewatch? yes

8 . Favorite moments: All of them dancing to “My Sharona” in the convenience store. Also, there are a lot of great lines but I loved this one so much:

“I was really going to be someone by the age of 23.” - Lelaina
"All you have to be by the age of 23 is yourself.” - Troy

9 . Thoughts: I loved how this movie captured that time in life when you’ve graduated from college, have had all these dreams, but then you’re just faced with LIFE. You’re broke, kind of lost, and your friends are your family. And this one did it in a way that is pure Gen X 90s.

What is so interesting is that I was listening to the audiobook The Nineties by Chuck Klosterman, and he talks about this movie, which is what triggered me to watch it. He said that who you want Winona’s character to end up with depends on your generation. Gen X wants one guy, Millenials want another (Boomers probably agree with Millenials on this choice, too.) I talk about this more in the short story I wrote for Nightingale, so I’ll let my character have the argument on the page, BUT I can confirm that I am Gen X, lol. I wanted the Gen X-favored love interest. (I think for the same reasons I wanted Angela to get Jordan Catalano in My So-Called Life even though he was a slacker who didn’t treat her very well.)

Overall, I think this is one to watch if you want to feel nostalgic for the 90s (if you lived through it) or to get the feel of it if you didn’t.

10 . Rating: 4.5 stars - It inspired me to write a 10k word story, so obviously it resonated with me!

Have you seen this one? What are your thoughts? Who did you want her to end up with?

Bookish serendipity and other people's opinions

The downside of reading reviews, a new steamy story for a good cause, and the movie that inspired the story.

The Art of Buying a Thing

Romantic Movie Marathon

Discussion about this post